Norwegian Fjords - Itinerary change. How do these ports compare?

[Tapi]

Hello. 
 

We are (were) scheduled to sail to the Norwegian Fjords in June. However, we regrettably find ourselves having to postpone the trip. 
 

We have pinpointed a new date that works for us. But 2 of the ports of call are different.

 

Our original ports were: 

Nordfjordeid and Flam.

The new ports are:

Skjolden and Kristiansand. 
 

We’ve never sailed this route so we’re completely unfamiliar with the ports. I will greatly appreciate your expertise and feedback. How do all of these ports compare? Which ones do you like more? Should we look for a different ship/itinerary? 
 

Thanks in advance! 

[kitkat343]

I sailed 6 years ago, and others are more familiar with Norway than me.  For the 7 day heritage fjord (not the northern coast trip) my favorite stops were Flam, Olden and Geiranger.  I didn't get the chance to visit Aleseund, but that's also much beloved on these forums.  Hopefully others will chime in with their perspectives.   

[janetcbl]

I would not want to skip Flam, especially if the stop included the Flam train. I know nothing about Skjolden and wasn’t that impressed the one time I visited Kristiansand. Just my opinion…..

[edinburgher]

we were also underwhelmed with Kristiansand.Not visited Skjolden

[hallasm]

Flåm is one of the best ports and with the possibility of a nice train journey from Flåm to Myrdal.
Nordfjordeid can be compared to Skjolden - however, there is a significantly longer fjord sailing to Skjolden (comparable to sailing to Flåm).
Others have given a good description of Kristiansand.

[kaisatsu]

Nordfjordeid and Flåm are both fjord ports with plenty of scenery on the sail-in and sail-out. Skjolden has much of the same scenery as Flåm on the sail-in/out but it has far less infrastructure than Flåm and doesn’t have easy access to the Flåmsbana railroad or the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord (the two main highlights of Flåm).

 

In general I’d consider Nordfjordeid and Skjolden to be comparable ports.

 

Kriatiansand is completely different. It’s a coastal town on the North Sea and doesn’t really have as many draws as a lot of the other places in Norway. Usually it’s just thrown in as a stop when sailing from Oslo or the Baltic region around to the western coast. If you have a fjord-intensive itinerary for the other ports, it could be an interesting change of pace, but I’m not sure there’s a lot to recommend it on its own.

 

Without knowing the other ports, it’s hard to make a call, but I would consider the new option a bit of a step down. If you’d still be visiting Bergen and Geiranger along with Skjolden and Kristiansand, then it would still be a great itinerary.

[JohnAlleb77]

From Nordfjordeid you can reach Geiranger or Loen skylift. You also have a viking museum https://sagastad.no/en/